Security For Christians
Security for Christians is an interesting topic. There’s as many different ideas about our security as there are people. The ideas range from, “God will protect me in any situation,” to, “go ahead, make my day!”
First, know that security is a multi-faceted topic. It covers weapons, home security, personal security, and more. This post will help get us started down those lines. Some posts will be highly specific while others are more generalized and open to manipulation. While I try to consider everyones opinion, these posts will be somewhat slanted to my own beliefs. Okay, here we go…
Let’s get weapons out of the way right up front. For many, guns, knives, etc. are a non-starter. You won’t have them around you and you may look down on those who do. Of course, that is your prerogative. I would like to offer a couple of thoughts on the subject.
If your answer to a crime is the police, forget it. By the time they get there, if they do at all, the crime is over and someone may be hurt. Please don’t think I am putting down the police, I am not. With the way things are going, our government keeps taking away their funding and their ability to do their jobs. When they come on the scene of any situation they don’t know who they are dealing with and have to be prepared for anything. It’s enough to give a person premature gray hair.
For me, I love shooting! I love to challenge myself and see how accurate I can be. In Oregon, we can go into the National Forest and shoot so we don’t have to go to a licensed gun range. Often, a friend goes with me and we compete against each other – all in good fun. I’m not a gun collector but I do have a few. We’ll get into why in another post. The bottom line: it’s a hobby that can potentially save me at a later time.
I have no desire to hurt anyone. I would rather a person steal my stuff and go away rather than shoot them. However, I am happily married and vowed to protect my wife and children from the evil that is around. Here’s some fun (not really) statistics: a break in occurs every 26-seconds or 2.5-million beak ins per year. Most occur between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. 38% of assaults & 60% of rapes occur during home invasions. There’s a lot more, but these will get you thinking. If you are unarmed you have no choice but to do what the robber tells you to do. In too many cases, this leads to more severe crimes.
In addition, we take our dogs out to run in the woods and we have bears, mountain lions, wolves, coyotes, and more. I do carry a high powered pistol out there that will stop a bear and therefore any of the other wild animals. I am thankful I have not had to use the gun on one of them.
Should we lose our ability to buy food, I have the ability to hunt for food. Not my first choice and I would hate to rely on that, but I could still feed my family. Not only do I have guns, I have a bow and arrows. They are fun to shoot also. But again, should the food issue arrive and I run out of ammo, I still have the bow.
For home defense, if you are unwilling to have a gun, how about a bat, golf club, something that you can use to defend yourself and your family. Don’t just have it, but know how to use it.
Okay, I’ll get off the weapons thing for now. We will pick up specifics in other posts.
Back to home security for a minute. There are things you can do to make it harder for someone to break in. For instance, those screws that hold your door latch on… replace them with three inch screws. Keep any hedges trimmed down so you and your neighbors can see. Don’t give the bad guys or gals a place to hide. Use driveway sensors around your property to alert you when someone is walking around.
What about personal protection? Do you know how to protect yourself? Does your spouse? And your children? And just as important, are you willing? You don’t have to be Bruce Lee in order to get an attacker to leave you alone. You just need to make it costly for them to continue attacking. You also need to learn to stay calm in all of these situations so you can think clearly. You don’t want to get beat, stabbed, or shot. The object is to be able to walk away.
One last thing before I bring this long post to a close… learn to be observant. Know what is going on around you and how to avoid conflict. Know your limitations and what you are willing to do in a variety of situations. Ask yourself the hard questions and answer them honestly.
Am I going against God because I think this way? Absolutely not. The Bible tells me to love my wife as Christ loves the church. He loved the church so much He died for it. I believe He wants us to defend ourselves. Not to go out and start stuff or even to beat a person senseless, but rather defend ourselves, our spouse, our children, our homes, our business, and even other believers to the point where we are safe again. Will God protect us? Absolutely. Sometimes He wants us to protect ourselves and He will be right beside us.
What’s the worse that happens, you find a new hobby and pass your knowledge down to your kids. I’m okay with that. The remainder of the posts in this category will be more specific on security and defense. God Bless You.
